Islamaphobia in the 'Hood?

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on June 13, 2013 at 21:09

The meeting at the Baptist Church this evening was well attended, with a total of maybe 100 including about 20 Bavanese, whose community centre was burnt down.

I felt more sorry for what has happened to them after seeing them: a decent, neatly turned out group and, like most Muslims, a million miles from the tiny minority of radical fundamentalist Islamic terrorists.

Platform speakers included Haringey councillors (and a Barnet councillor), a London Assembly member, anti-fascists and an MP.

Haringey Cllr. Joe Goldberg spoke movingly about being on one of the 7/7 trains and spoke of the unity on his carriage, from all races and religions, in the face of the chaos.

David Lammy MP sent apologies; Lynne Featherstone MP hot footed from the airport in order to speak.

The Islamic Community Centre is actually just over the border in Barnet Borough.

We all hope the police will find the culprits. Two things occurred to me. The letters EDL were sprayed on the premises but (a) it does not necessarily meant the EDL were responsible; (b) as with the  spray paint work at the top of Hugh's thread, this cowardly crime, having such an impact, could have been the work of just a single person.

Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on June 13, 2013 at 13:56

Close observers of my usual concerns may have noticed that in my earlier comment ten days ago I was subtly alluding as much to the pearls of orthographía as to the perils of xenophobia or even threskeiaphobia. In fact I feared that Hugh had fallen prey to a bout of omikro- or even oMEGAphobia - irrational fear of the letter 'O'.

Very few '-phobia' words actually link with the letter 'a', even in the case of base words such as 'thalassa' which end on 'a' but give us 'thalassophobia' - fear or hatred of the sea. Interesting exceptions are 'Papaphobia' - irrational or (for Paisleyites and Dawkinsites) very rational fear of the Pope, and my newly coined 'threskeiaphobia' above - (ir)rational fear/hatred of (a) religion.

So, even the pedantophobes among you, let's hear it for 'Islamophobia'  rather than 'Islamaphobia'. Delighted to see that Clive has just agreed on this. A clear case of telepathía, surely?

Anette may be amazed that such a condition as 'ail(o)urophobia' (fear/hatred of cats) could exist.

The ultimate is 'phobophobia' - nothing to fear but fear itself.

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Permalink Reply by 3o4aqcqeqjigt on June 13, 2013 at 17:04

Is it even possible to have a more pointless discussion on the internet?

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on June 13, 2013 at 17:24

Thanks for taking the time – albeit not a lot of time – to contribute to the discussion 3o4aqcqeqjigt.

If you feel that such discussion on the internet is pointless, have views on the topic and would like to do something more practical, you might wish to come along to a public meeting about the fire at the Islamic Community centre, something you might agree is far more serious than the incident that provoked the headline above.
 
It's tonight in Muswell Hill and designed to underline that the local community is united against racism after last week’s fire at an Islamic Centre. The meeting is set for 7pm at the Baptist Church in Dukes Avenue in the centre of Muswell Hill, a few minutes walk from the Islamic Centre. It will hear from religious, union, political and community figures.

The MP of the constituency where the fire took place (Lynne Featherstone) will be speaking.

Are you prepared to go along to show your support for the Bravanese?

If neither of these things appeal, I suggest joining another discussion.

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